Hey Man, Is That Freedom Rock?

The iconic folk singer Joan Baez opened her Wednesday night concert at the Birchmere with a civil rights anthem that suddenly sounded celebratory: “We Shall Overcome,” the old protest song whose message of resolve and sweeping social change played like a valedictory in the wake of Barack Obama’s election…. The a cappella performance was stunning, even though her clarion soprano has lost some of its once-breathtaking power and lift. At 67, Baez works mostly in her middle range now, but she can still sound like an angel. If her performance Wednesday–though warm and comforting–lacked the bell-like clarity that was her signature in the ’60s, there was a good reason: “My voice is a little scratchy ’cause I screamed all night,” she told the capacity crowd, which hollered its approval.